7 Ben Carson Facts That May Surprise You

byEricka SouterOct 28, 2015

Photograph by Getty Images

As Donald Trump preps for the
GOP presidential debate tonight, there is no doubt he has one particular goal
in mind: bring down Ben Carson. After all, the surgeon-turned-politician was
the challenger to finally unseat the longtime frontrunner. Much to the surprise of many, the soft-spoken
Carson has taken the lead in four polls in recent weeks. "I don't get it," Trump marveled. But there
is a lot more to the pediatric neurosurgeon than meets the eye.
He's a pretty fascinating guy. Take a look at these fun (and surprising) facts
about Dr. Carson.

He was the first surgeon to
successfully separate conjoined twins at the head in 1987. It was an extremely
risky and dangerous 22-hour surgery and his work paved the way for future
attempts.

Before he was the mild-mannered
doctor we know today, Carson had what can best be described as anger issues. As
a small child, his raging temper got him into serious trouble .
Once, he tried to hit his mother with a hammer after she disagreed with his
clothing choice. In another instance, he gave a classmate a head injury in an
argument over a locker. His final outburst occurred when he attempted to
stab a friend during a dispute over choice of radio stations. Fortunately, the
blade broke in the belt buckle. Though Carson didn't know it at the time and ran
home and locked himself in the bathroom with a Bible and started praying to God
to help him control his temper. It was a life-changing moment.

His mother Sonya required her
boys to read two library books every week and submit reports to her. With
little education herself, she couldn't read the work, but her kids never knew because
she graded them with check marks.

Carson is a cancer survivor.
He found out he was stricken with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in the
middle of a surgery on a child. "I have the ability to put things out of my
mind, so I just put it out of my mind and finished the operation," he once
said. "But certainly, you know, that evening it did weigh heavily upon me as I
began to realize that wow, I have cancer. The thing that bothered me was the
fact that I would be leaving so many people behind." He now credits the
experience with helping him better treat his own patients.

He has received more than 40
honorary doctorate degrees and President George W. Bush gave him the
Presidential Medal of Honor, which is the highest honor a civilian can receive.

Carson was once a costar of A-lister
Matt Damon in the big screen comedy "Stuck on You."